7th Eastern Himalayan Naturenomics Forum in Guwahati on Nov 5-6
GUWAHATI: As many as 60 personalities from multi-disciplinary fields, representing 17 countries, will engage in a discourse on nature capital and its impact on universal basic assets at the two-day 7th Eastern Himalayan Naturenomics Forum organised by the Balipara Foundation here from November 5.
The forum is the largest of its kind in the Northeast, dedicated towards community building in Asia. Since its inaugural edition in 2013, the forum has been addressing conservation challenges through the framework of rural futures and nature-economics.
A flagship framework, rural futures aims to build an economy backed by natural capital for providing communities with equitable access to education, savings, healthcare, livelihoods and water (universal basic assets).
Launched in 2007, Balipara Foundation has been collaborating with local communities to establish a global vision for an ecologically regenerative, community-centric model of economy through afforestation, access to potable water, healthcare and sustainable housing.
“Currently, the foundation has a membership of 33 members. The forum aims at creating awareness about natural assets, which are in abundance in the Northeast. Such assets when liquidated can be transformed into capital which is why we are engaging communities through our projects and encouraging them to nurture and preserve the natural assets,” Prabir Banerjea, co-founder and managing member, Balipara Foundation, said at the curtain-raiser media conference here on Friday.
Speakers at the seventh edition of the forum this year comprise among others, ambassador Chandrashekhar Dasgupta, Prime Minister’s Council for Climate Change, India; historian and author, Rudrangshu Mukherjee, chancellor, professor of history at Ashoka University; Karuna A. Singh, country director for Earth Day India; Thu Zaw, chief executive officer of Sithar Coffee, Myanmar; Vance Martin, vice president of Wild Foundation, USA; Anish Andheria, president of Wildlife Conservation Trust and Bittu Sahgal, environmental activist, writer and the founder of Sanctuary Nature Foundation.
In the past year, the Balipara Foundation has surpassed its target of creating one million natural assets by 2020, to create 1.2 million natural assets through the Rural Futures programme with communities in Udalguri and Balipara.
Addressing the media, Robin Eastment, project lead, Udalguri Landscape Mission of Balipara Foundation, said 13 joint forest management communities have been formed in Bodoland Territorial Council in a bid to involve and empower communities in growing trees and conserving them.